Rivet



(No Model.)

' I. G. PLATT.

RIVET.

No. 449,698. Patented Apr. 7, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRVING G. PLATT, OF IVA'IERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

RIVET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,698, dated April '7, 1891.

Application filed April 19, 1890. Renewed February 2, 1891. Serial No. 379,916. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IRVING G. PLATT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Vaterb'ury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rivets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in rivets, and more particularly to that kind or class thereof which are formed from a,

piece of wire, and so constructed as to be enabled to cut or pierce their way through the fabric or other article to which they are attached. I-Ieretofore in constructing rivets from wire it has been the practice to either cut or otherwise remove the metal from the center of the shank to such an extent that the ends of the prongs shall be sufficiently thin and sharp to pierce their way through the goods, or to such an extent that by slightly chiseling the outer surfaces thereof the same result will be accomplished. In' such cases, however, the sharpened ends of the shank are acquired or formed at the expense of the holding or binding surface of the ends of' the rivet, the greater the amount of metal taken from the center of the rivet in slotting it the less amount there will be of holding-surface, such being due to the cylindrical shape of the shank of the rivet, it being obvious that the greatest breadth or width of metal in crosssection is at the center or diameter and the least practical amount at a point near the outer surface.

The purpose of my present invention is to overcome this objection and to so construct a rivet that the greatest amount of metal will be utilized, or that portion of the metal which has the greatest breadth or holding-surface, and thus to providea rivet which'shall spread over more surface in proportion to its strength and quantity of metal utilized than has heretofore been the case.

lVith this end in viewmyinvention consists of a rivet the shank of which is slitted or provided with a very narrow slot, the object being to remove as small an amount of metal from the center of the shank as possible, in 'order to utilize that portion which is the greatest in breadth for holding or binding surfaces. The prongs of the rivet are then forced outwardly, and the outer portions thereof cut away in a vertical or substantially vertical line, the efiect of which is to sharpen the piercing ends of the prongs and retain all or nearly all of the metal at the base, at the same time retaining the greatest breadth of material, which is at the center of the shank.

In order to more thoroughly understand the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a rivet after being slitted or slotted as above described. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the rivet after the prongs have been spread apart and prior to the cutting away of the outer sides, and Fig.

4c is a plan view thereof. Fig. 5 is a View in elevation of the finished rivet, and Fig.6 a plan view of the same.

A represents the head or flange of the rivet, constructed of solid metal wire, and B the shank thereof, provided with a slit or slot a, forming the prongs b b. After the head has been struck up and the shank slotted, as above described, the prongs are spread apart into the position as shown in Fig. 3 and the metal cut from the outer sides, as represented by dotted lines, thereby sharpening the ends of the rivets without the necessity of subsequently chiseling the points and at the same time retaining all or nearly all of the metal at the base and near the head, Where strength is required. Instead of cutting away the sides of the rivet, as described, the metal may be retained and spread out by swaging or otherwise giving still more holding-surface than in the case of its removal. In this case a greater amount of metal may be removed, as the swaged metal will compensate for that which is removed from the center.

As shown by the several figures of the drawings, I construct the outer surfaces of the prongs concave in form, as by so doing I secure a greater amount of metal on the vertical edges of the prongs and thereby weaken to some extent the longitudinal center of the prongs, which better enables the latter to be overturned and spread.

I do not intend in any way to cover in this specification the method of forming the rivet described, or to'in any way limit my claim to such method, as it may be departed from in several instances without affecting the result-as, for instance, the outer surfaces of the prongs may be cut away or swaged before they are spread, and in some instances it may be preferred to cut or swage them before being slitted or slotted; but

\Vhat I intend to claim as new, and protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. A solid rivet constructed with prongs the ends of which are equal or nearly equal in width to the diameter of the wire from which it is formed.

2. A solid rivet having a head formed at one end, and a slotted or slitted shank the prongs of which are spread apart and substantially equal in width to the diameter of the wire from which it is formed.

3. A solid rivethaving the ends of its prongs equal, or nearly so, in width to the diameter of the metal wire from which it is formed and their outer surfaces concaved.

4:. A solid rivet having a head or flange formed at one end, and a shank the central portion of which is removed and the prongs spread apart, utilizing the greatest width of the metal asholding-surfaces, substantially as described.

5. A solid rivet having a head formed at one end, and a shank the central portion of which is removed and the prongs spread apart, the outer surfaces of which are swaged or cut away in concave form, substantially as described.

6. A solid rivet formed with a head or flange at one end, and a slotted shank the outer surfaces of which are concaved by swaging, substantially as described.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York, this 17th day of April, A. D. 1890.

IRVING G. PLAT.

"Witnesses:

HERMAN G'Us'row, I GEORGE COOK. 

